Quote I pulled from an insider article (don't say a word....30 day free trial, I ain't paying for that crap) makes some interesting points though:

Underrated -- Seattle Seahawks

Maybe the Seahawks have been labeled with the stigma of benefiting from "that" officiating call, but teams still seem to be overlooking their defense and the whole team in general. For them to be seated behind a Dallas Cowboys team they easily handled at home is a little puzzling, to say the least. The old adage goes that defense wins championships, and, if that is still the case, the Seahawks' defense alone should put them closer to the top 10.

Through five weeks of the season, you would be extremely hard pressed to find a single average player on that defense, never mind a bad one. They are led by the most ferocious sub package defensive line (four players with 10 or more pressures) in the entire NFL (sorry, Giants fans, your pass-rushers haven't shown up yet this season) and a set of defensive backs who can bully opposing wide receivers and throw off the timing of any passing game (Seattle's corners are allowing only 0.88 yards per coverage snap, best in the league). Cap that off with a three-down linebacker pairing of K.J. Wright and Leroy Hill that is equally comfortable covering as playing run defense and you have a defense that asks very little of its offense.

Given that this is an elite defense, it must be the offense that has the analysts doubting and underrating the team.Certainly, Seattle's 17.2 points per game average doesn't inspire confidence, but the performances and the way in which the Seahawks play suggest they are good enough to win a lot of games being carried by their defense. They have a pair of tailbacks who break tackles for fun (30 missed tackles forced on 130 carries by Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin leads the league by some margin) and do a lot of work driving defenders to maximize the yardage they are given on every single carry (Lynch is tied for seventh in yards after contact per attempt). Meanwhile, out wide, the pairing of Sidney Rice and Golden Tate is just starting to come to life after a lackluster start to give Russell Wilson the help he needs. Against Carolina, the two combined to catch every ball thrown their way for 98 yards and a touchdown. Wilson must improve, but, with a top-three defense and those weapons, are the Seahawks really a middle-of-the-road team?

Oline has only given up 10 sacks in 5 games compared to 10 sacks the first TWO games last year.

Tate having a breakout season. Rice coming along. TE's seeing the ball. Far better rushing attack than after 5 games last year. Yet Wilson throws for 60 yards less per game than TJack after 5 games last year.

Richard Sherman doesn't just wanna get in your head, he wants to build a vacation home there.

Oline has only given up 10 sacks in 5 games compared to 10 sacks the first TWO games last year.

Tate having a breakout season. Rice coming along. TE's seeing the ball. Far better rushing attack than after 5 games last year. Yet Wilson throws for 60 yards less per game than TJack after 5 games last year.

Hahaha. This is funny. The Seahawks allowed 125 in 5 games last season. They were behind the whole time and couldn't run the ball yet.

Judging a QB by his yardage is like judging an NBA player solely on ppg, and not focusing at all on FG%, assist/to ratio, etc.

Some posts on this site hurt my brain

"If I were Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Flynn, I'd be leery of this kid because if you give him a chance, if you give him a chance and look past his 5 foot 11 or 5-10 and a half or whatever it is, if you give this kid a legitimate chance to win the job, he'll win it" - John Gruden

Oline has only given up 10 sacks in 5 games compared to 10 sacks the first TWO games last year.

Tate having a breakout season. Rice coming along. TE's seeing the ball. Far better rushing attack than after 5 games last year. Yet Wilson throws for 60 yards less per game than TJack after 5 games last year.

Hahaha. This is funny. The Seahawks allowed 125 in 5 games last season. They were behind the whole time and couldn't run the ball yet.

Judging a QB by his yardage is like judging an NBA player solely on ppg, and not focusing at all on FG%, assist/to ratio, etc.

Some posts on this site hurt my brain

Get used to it. Salish has been trying to beat that flaccid point into the ground for a couple of days now.

Oline has only given up 10 sacks in 5 games compared to 10 sacks the first TWO games last year.

Tate having a breakout season. Rice coming along. TE's seeing the ball. Far better rushing attack than after 5 games last year. Yet Wilson throws for 60 yards less per game than TJack after 5 games last year.

Hahaha. This is funny. The Seahawks allowed 125 in 5 games last season. They were behind the whole time and couldn't run the ball yet.

Judging a QB by his yardage is like judging an NBA player solely on ppg, and not focusing at all on FG%, assist/to ratio, etc.

Some posts on this site hurt my brain

Damn, I couldn't agree more. The comparison to TJ is just absurd, totally absurd. TJ never led a come from behind game winning drive for the Seahawks - ever!

And, to give our OL credit for only 10 sacks but not give RW credit for escaping at least twice that many is totally unreasonable. Even if you give the OL credit for the 2 or 3 where Wilson has mistakenly run into the pressure, it still doesn't come close to being a fair argument. If TJ had been in that Arizona game, they would have had a dozen sacks.

Compare RW to Flynn if you want, but the comparison to TJ is just dumb IMHO.

the other funny thing with making a point out of 60 yards total is that is basically even. Add / remove a PI flag vs a completion and there is a bunch of yards, remove a penalty on a 50 yard completion ..... and yep there is the same

mjwhitay wrote:Hahaha. This is funny. The Seahawks allowed 125 in 5 games last season. They were behind the whole time and couldn't run the ball yet.

Judging a QB by his yardage is like judging an NBA player solely on ppg, and not focusing at all on FG%, assist/to ratio, etc.

Some posts on this site hurt my brain

What about 94 points in 4 games (they got shut out in one game in the first 5)

Yards don't mean everything but points do. We also scored all those points with almost no run game and a way worse o-line.

Jackson at that point had 6 passing TDs and a rushing TD with 5 INTS. One more TD than Wilson and one less INT.

Fans were already chanting for Whitehurst. Funny how Jackson was the worse QB ever through 5 games but Wilson is doing just fine even though he actually has done worse than Jackson....

I am for keeping Wilson in right now. I think we already forced ourselves to deal with it now but just because someone says something that doesn't involve praising Wilson, doesn't mean you should say their post makes your brain hurt.

jkitsune wrote:Don't worry. When we beat the Patriots at home the same way the Cards did - with stifling defense that makes Brady look pedestrian and shuts down their rushing attack - we'll rocket up the rankings.

You know better.

It will be just another story that the Seahawks didn't win, the Pats lost. (but I can live with that)

Even "The Great Tom Brady" loses bad sometimes - so even if we lose this week I'm not going to feel bad for us. We have done well against very worthy opponents this year and I don't think Sunday will be a day where the Hawks mail it in. I can guarantee that we disrupt the Patriots in some ways while they are on offense. I can guarantee that we will run the ball well and win the TOP stat. I honestly don't think their combo of O, D and ST will be enough to prevail on the road against us. Should be an excellent game for the reasons I've stated (Brady, Welker, Gronk) but I really don't think that's enough for them this week.

JSeahawks wrote:Hm, i dont see how that could be possible. We're giving up 192 yards passing per game, so if that formula is correct it means teams must be attempting about 170 passes a game on us.

I did an awful job of explaining it.It's not based on the team passing yards, it's based individual yards given up. If Brandon Browner gives up 200 yards and he's in coverage 100 times, his yards per coverage snap is 2.

JSeahawks wrote:Hm, i dont see how that could be possible. We're giving up 192 yards passing per game, so if that formula is correct it means teams must be attempting about 170 passes a game on us.

I did an awful job of explaining it.It's not based on the team passing yards, it's based individual yards given up. If Brandon Browner gives up 200 yards and he's in coverage 100 times, his yards per coverage snap is 2.

mjwhitay wrote:Hahaha. This is funny. The Seahawks allowed 125 in 5 games last season. They were behind the whole time and couldn't run the ball yet.

Judging a QB by his yardage is like judging an NBA player solely on ppg, and not focusing at all on FG%, assist/to ratio, etc.

Some posts on this site hurt my brain

What about 94 points in 4 games (they got shut out in one game in the first 5)

Yards don't mean everything but points do. We also scored all those points with almost no run game and a way worse o-line.

Jackson at that point had 6 passing TDs and a rushing TD with 5 INTS. One more TD than Wilson and one less INT.

Fans were already chanting for Whitehurst. Funny how Jackson was the worse QB ever through 5 games but Wilson is doing just fine even though he actually has done worse than Jackson....

I am for keeping Wilson in right now. I think we already forced ourselves to deal with it now but just because someone says something that doesn't involve praising Wilson, doesn't mean you should say their post makes your brain hurt.

True. But there will be no getting this through to those that refuse the possibility there are better QBs in the league, and possibly on this team, than Mr. Wilson. It was only a couple weeks ago, that some were annointing him the 6th best in the league and a few were unsure if they would take Cutler for him in trade (!?!).

I wanted to lend you support here, but I am actually doing my best to stay away from these QB topics (for now) as I know it's an exercise in futility. The final straw for me were the arguments that basically use the "We brought CW off the bench...and how'd that work out"? How can you intelligently engage in debate when stuff like that is thrown into the mix? I will continue to support Wilson as our number 1 and obviously wish for his success, but I'd be willing to bet Flynn is in by year's end. If and when this happens, I will feel damn good in knowing we have Wilson coming in off the bench if needed.

mikeak wrote:the other funny thing with making a point out of 60 yards total is that is basically even. Add / remove a PI flag vs a completion and there is a bunch of yards, remove a penalty on a 50 yard completion ..... and yep there is the same

so to draw conclusions based on that besides being flawed is funny.

Sure would be interesting to see what the passing stats look like without the penalties negating large chunks of yardage.